The sale, for an undisclosed amount, has been sneaking up on the former long-serving member for Murray Valley since he left parliament in 2010.

With his children Leigh and Sally now married and settled overseas and his cousin and former dealer director Brian Jasper’s kids living in Melbourne, it’s been apparent for some time there would be no fourth generation.

“That was the difficulty,” Mr Jasper said.

“We could have closed but that would have been the worst scenario for me.

“It was important that I found someone compatible to Jasper Bros, which Pigdon certainly is, and it was important to protect all the staff.”

While Pigdon has absorbed the General Motors dealership it will continue to lease the Corowa site from the Jaspers.

Mr Jasper said he would miss the business just as he had missed his time in politics, admitting his two loves (behind his wife Annette) had gone hand-in-hand.

“When I went into politics in 1976 I was just carrying on doing what I was doing in this business, a service,” he said.

“But politics came ahead of everything as far as I was concerned.

“I spent some time in the business when I was in politics but very little.”

Mr Jasper yesterday paid tribute to the people who had supported Jasper Bros over the decades and his wife Annette who he said had done an amazing job raising their two children when he was away.

The member of the Order of Australia and Wangaratta and Burramine sports clubs life member will travel and see more of his family, including his five grandchildren.